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[odedmaz]

Purchased a new 2014 FX 2.8 (one battery).
Bike will be used for off road fun only, and will not serve as a transportation tool.

I am a complete beginner in the bike arena, and will take it slowly, starting with some unpaved dirt roads and move my way up.

Where would you suggest I place the battery for better handling suitable for me?
Thanks, Oded.

[FirstZeroFinland]

congratulations on your awesome bike   
I think you find out when you try both, easy to swap on the field:)
 I was also thinking to buy with one battery first and uppgrade later,  drive first summer with one battery and then buy second one, so  then you have new bike with more power and range:D
 Dealer made me good offer and convinced me to take the 5.7.
 
 

[BenS]

Congrats on the new bike, and new hobby, dirtbiking is a lot of fun! Unfortunately  , if you never own a petrol/gas bike, you'll miss out on having to clean and oil an air filter every ride, and do an engine oil change every 6-10 hrs of riding! Oh, and you'll also not have to select the correct gear while riding, nor have to pull in the clutch to prevent stalling!

Unfortunately, I still have to wait a couple of months for my FX. Regarding single battery placement, in all the photo's I've seen, the owners have it located in the rear. I've never ridden a Zero, but in theory, rear compartment should be better for having a more central pivot point for the bike to change angle, because the weight of the rider, battery and motor are more central. Apparently, that's part of the reasoning behind Honda putting twin mufflers on their dirtbikes, and Yamaha's new engine design(having rotating mass further back towards centre of bike) on the YZ450F. Having said that, having no battery in the front will keep the front end lighter for lofting more easily over bumps, but having a battery in the front will put more weight on the front tyre for grip(putting the right amount of weight on the front tyre is the key for grip, which is also adjusted by the rider's body position, and also the amount of braking force applied).

Probably the best single bit of advice I can give to a learner is to try to keep your upper body perpendicular(at 90 degrees) to the ground when cornering(on dirt). e.g. if it's a flat corner, lean the bike over but keep your upper body vertical, to put weight on the tyres for grip, and if the corner is banked(a berm), you can lean with the bike, so that you and the bike are perpendicular to the angle of the berm, because the berm prevents the bike from drifting outwards and puts more force on the tyres for grip, unlike a flat corner. Watch some video of pro riders(motocross or enduro) to see how they do it.

[rayivers]

Oded,

+1 on putting the battery in the rear - that's where I have mine, and the bike handles great.

The stock tires should be OK for unpaved roads, but for softer terrain you'll want to use more aggressive tires.  Monday I'll be putting on Michelin S-12 XC's - 140/80-18 rear, 90/90-21 front.  It's cool to be able to use a wide rear tire like this.

Ray

[odedmaz]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

fuel bikes were not an option. I am a hardcore electric fan (remote control electric planes, helis & drones, electric bikes).
decided to get the ZERO FX for my 40th birthday, to have some fun in the local trails & fields. since I am not going to ride it on road, I think the 2.8 will do it for now.

I must admit that my common sense pointed me to place the single battery in the front as it seems to me like a better weight distribution. tackling obstacles and wheelies are not my main goals at the moment.
however, after reading your posts I guess placing it in the back make more sense. I'll try to experiment in both positions as mentioned for my curiosity 

Oded.

[Cortezdtv]

I always used to ride with the battery in the front until recently tried it in just the rear I was quite surprised how much better the bike handled this way ( I thought it handled good 1 brick compared to 2) I didn't think front to rear would have that much difference, it did.

For street riding I still like the front batt in instead helps hold the weight over the front wheel for better street cornering only if you have supermoto wheels, the fx stock duals ports are ok on dirt and ok on the street where they shine is fire roads, they slide very predictably and on vacation few weekends ago we took some up to northern ca to do some hillclimbs riding with my sister, what a blast, all the way up to 6000 feet to the littlest a out of snowpack ever  , no problem

[steven_first]

Here is the deal coming from someone who has a stock FX 5.7 and has played with the battery locations.  If you are just learning to ride you will want to start out the battery in the front.  The ONLY reason for this is to keep the front end down till you are comfortable with the power the bike can provide.  Once you feel comfortable move the battery to the rear slot for better balance and a lighter front wheel.  While intimidating at first being able to easily lift the front is essential to riding off road; even more so for the FX due to the lack of a clutch.

Things that will cause you to drop your bike will be sliding the front wheel accidentally, too much throttle in corners and sudden unexpected ruts on the trial.  I used to try to go beast mode on bikes if I started to drop a bike at slow speed offroad and almost every time I would snap the brake or clutch leaver off because of holding it while trying to "save" the bike. 

[BenS]

fuel bikes were not an option. I am a hardcore electric fan (remote control electric planes, helis & drones, electric bikes).
decided to get the ZERO FX for my 40th birthday, to have some fun in the local trails & fields. since I am not going to ride it on road, I think the 2.8 will do it for now.

Cool. I've played around with electric multi-rotors, planes, and cars for the last couple of years, but I've just converted my old "Jesse James" Chopper bicycle into an electric bicycle, so now I'm using my rc batteries and chargers for that.   

Yeah, I ordered the 2.8 too, at first, because I only really wanted it for local "stealth" riding, but then a couple of weeks later, I changed my order to the 5.7, just in case I liked it so much that I'd want to ride to the beach, or do a bit of "twisties" motard riding.

For really tricky trail-riding, these days, I prefer my less torquey, lighter 250 two-stroke over my 530exc. For trails, a lighter and under-powered bike can be better and more fun, so I'm keen to compare the 2.8 to the 5.7.